Police union slams Newburgh

The City of Newburgh police union blasted the Newburgh City Council Sunday as "useless" for not having enough officers on the street when a cop was stabbed in the neck early Saturday.

Officer Eric Henderson was stabbed several times at about 2:35 a.m. outside the Dry Dock nightclub, where a celebration was being held to remember Justin "J-Doc" Doctor, 23, who was killed Oct. 14.

According to Teamsters Local 445 Principal Officer Adrian Huff, Henderson was stabbed while handcuffing a suspect involved in a bar fight outside 90 Broadway. More than 100 people gathered there.

"If there were more police arriving at the scene of more than 100 people surrounding a dangerous fight, we do not believe our officer would have been as endangered," said Huff in a news release.

Three civilians reportedly also were stabbed that night. Two of the three who were stabbed were flown to trauma centers, and the third was treated and released locally, police said. No names have been released of those victims.

Huff said the unidentified attacker stabbed Henderson several times in the back and arm. Henderson was wearing a bulletproof vest that blunted those stabs, but he was then slashed in the neck, Huff said.

A second city cop then arrived and pulled the stabbed officer from the scene and took him to St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital. He later was taken to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla. On Saturday, he was in stable condition, police said.

By the time Henderson was being taken to the hospital, two other on-duty city officers arrived and arrested the alleged stabber, Huff said.

"The doctors have told us that had the neck wound gone less than an eighth of an inch closer, it would have hit the jugular vein and probably resulted in the death of the officer," Huff said.

In the past few years, the department has seen its number of officers severly reduced and several poisitions have not been filled during that time frame, said Marc Miller, the union's business agent. The council also has refused to meet with the union to discuss ways to increase the number of officers on the streets.

"With nearly 30,000 residents living in a virtual crime war zone, four officers on patrol is insane and reprehensible. The City Council is useless and is drowning in politics as usual," Huff said.

The union also called on the county and state to become more involved in helping the city finance the police force.

In response, Newburgh Mayor Judy Kennedy said Sunday she's proposed adding two more officers to the 2013 budget, and exploring how the city may legally close bars down by 2 a.m. instead of 4 a.m. "There's too much alcohol and hot tempers," she said.

Kennedy also said she asked City Manager Richard Herbek for a complete analysis of overtime pay for the past few years. By cutting the city's overtime budget of more than $1 million in half, the city could hire another six officers, Kennedy said.

"We know that something must be done about the situation we have in the city. We have to make it safer for both our citizens and our police officers," Kennedy said.